November 9, 2013

One of the slight advantages of unemployment (and an update: lost out on an interview earlier this week, and I won't go into details, but I'm still plugging away) is that it provides some time for living a "creative" lifestyle - for pursuing endeavors. (Usually that time comes early in the morning due to insomnia and frustration....but I digress).

As many of you can easily surmise - I like writing. There's something about assembling thoughts in a cohesive form, either on screen or on paper, that fulfills some need. Perhaps it was because, as an only child, I needed something to push back against, some need to be heard....but that's another tale.

I have been fortunate to have seen at least one work become published (you have read "Out There in the Night" in Les Vamps, haven't you? Please drop me a line if you're interested in reviewing), and I have a few works (potentially) in the pipeline with a small, independent publisher (once they're formally announced, then I'll push them here). Yet, I wish it was an endeavor that I would pursue professionally. Much of it is the nature of the publishing business (even if I wrote the Great American Novel in the next few hours, it would take longer to get published), and part of it is that I cannot even gain basic copywriting jobs.

(I promised myself I would not turn this into a rant - let's just say that for someone who has "so much experience", I'm finding that not only are companies reluctant to hire....they're even reluctant to use a cut-and-paste two line "No thank you, we're moving on with someone else" e-mail. Draw your own conclusions.)

In many ways, I'm also enjoying my role as proofreader/editor on several titles for smaller, pulp-based publishers. Doing work for Radio Archives gave me a great crash course not only in pulp history, but also in learning about how pulp writing "works". (Plus, gift certificates for e-books and audiobooks? Great incentive!) I'm also very proud of the work I've been doing for pal Ron of Zone 4 and Airship 27. Yes, it's mostly reading PDFs, highlighting, and making comments on changes, but it's also a great way to learn skills....skills that can not only inform my own writing, but I can use in other endeavors.

(Yes, I've done a third title in addition to The Bagman Vs. The World's Fair and Jim Anthony: Super-Detective Volume 4. You'll read about it tomorrow. Deal?) It's still incredibly challenging, though, to fit in writing with the vagaries of other pursuits. Despite current tendencies to proclaim the joys of "entrepreneurship", pursuing personal passions does not guarantee nor result in triumph - it mostly results in a day-to-day sense of gratitude. It rarely reaches the heights of nirvana....mostly, it gives a pretty good reason to get out of bed in the morning.